The Ministry of the National Defense Republic of Lithuania has announced that additional missiles for the Javelin anti-tank weapon systems procured by the Defence Materiel Agency have been delivered to Lithuania.
According to a statement, the worth of the procurement is over $20 million, $5 million of which is financial support of the United States of America. The additional systems will be provided to units of the Lithuanian Land Force in order to strengthen defense capabilities of Lithuania.
“The U.S. is Lithuania’s strategic partner and a key ally for security in the Baltic region. The Javelin anti-tank system procured from the U.S. is a particularly significant increase of long-term combat capabilities of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and enhancement of the effectiveness of deterrence,” Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis says.
The Javelin medium-range anti-tank missile system is an advanced weapon capable of destroying modern, explosive reactor armour (ERA)-fitted main battle tanks in daylight and at night at a distance of 75 meters – 2.5 kilometers.
The system uses “fire-and-forget” principle: when the target is locked and a missile is fired, it guides itself all the way to the target, which increases protection of the unit since it can change its location without having to wait for the missile to hit its target.
The Javelin missile’s tandem warhead is capable of attacking its target straight on or from the top from an altitude of up to 150 meters and hit a tank on the most vulnerable spot, i.e. the hatch.
The Javelin has a soft launch design that ignites the engine of the missile only when it is outside of its launch-tube, which does not allow to detect where the missile was launched from. The weapon is suitable for use in urban combat from indoors.